Agenda

From early works like Dog Boy, Burns has always had a toe in the campy excesses of 1950s horror, as well as its more disturbing underpinnings, but with Black Hole, he divests himself of any ironic distance.

And now for something a little different: heapings of pasta to go with your theater. Brought here by Philadelphia's Puppet Uprising, the OBIE-winning puppeteer collective Great Small Works will hold "An Evening of Toy Theater and Spaghetti" at the Rotunda this Friday and Saturday.

Start the musical new year with keyboard fireworks. Several seasons ago, an up-and-coming New York-based pianist named Jeremy Denk played the almost unheard Piano Sonata by the America master Elliott Carter. People were stunned. If you like old-school garage punk with the gunk ladled on hot and thick, this whole show will make you plotz.

Only a bit of cunning, some timely kindness from strangers and pure, random luck keeps the kid from dying in the desert like so many others. There's heartbreak and tragedy on every page — just when you think things can't get much worse for the weary refugees, a lion or a helicopter appear from nowhere. exhibit (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION) These days, a racy photograph is the cover of Maxim. But just how intimate do you feel toward a